What R Teens Learning from Sext-Ed?

Teens spend about the same amount of time on social media that they do in school – seven and a half hours per day, on average. In fact, 93 percent of teens own or have access to a computer and 78 percent own a cell phone, nearly half of which are smart phones. Accordingly, teens are increasingly getting information, formally and informally, through social media and on electronic devices. This includes information about sexual and reproductive health. Many teens receive research-based online sex education that aims to prevent negative health outcomes, such as unintended pregnancy and STDs. However, some less trustworthy sources may negatively influence teens by exposing them to sexually explicit material or by promoting misleading or untrue information about sexual and reproductive health.

Social media presents an opportunity to provide teens and young adults with helpful and age-appropriate information at their fingertips, but we need to know more about these digital sources of sex education and their effects on teens’ attitudes and behaviors.

On one hand, there are currently several interventions and services on social media platforms and on electronic devices that aim to promote sexual education and health. A systematic review of studies of sexual education via new digital media found interventions that delayed the age when teens first had sex, encouraged users to remove references to sex from their public profile, influenced attitudes on condom efficacy and abstinence, and increased knowledge of HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, or pregnancy. A few examples include: